Can opener



v.earnerr FREDERICK L. WHITCOMB, OF CLYDE, OHIO.

can OPENER.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented July il, 1953.2.

Application led August 19, 19.21. Serial Nol 493,636.

To all whom t may concern Be it known that I, FREDERICK L. ferirooMB, citizen `of the United States, residing at Clyde, in the county of Sandusky and State of Ohio, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Can Openers, of which the following is a specification.

lThis invention relates to improvements in `can-openers, and may be considered as a further improvement in a device of thisclass for which an ap lication has been led by mein the Patent fhce, said application bearing filing date April 6th, 1921, and Serial No. 459,003.

The principal objects of the present invention are similar to those of the former, the primary object of the invention being to produce a highly efficient hand implement for opening tin cans, or the like, at the lowest possible cost of manufacture and distribution. It is also an important object of the invention to provide the most sanitary article of this character; that is to say, an article easily cleansed, having a minimum of re-en trant angles and recesses, and without interstices which catch and retain dirt and delev terious matter.

Another object is to furnish a self-contained, integral structure having no screws, washers or other component parts which can become loosened or lost, or which may require adjustment, and which add to the cost.`

Further objects are to make the sharp steel fulcrum edges integral with the blade; to provide a blade which may be sharpened readily without removal, and which is well guarded to protect the user from injury; to produce an instrument of this class for use by both right and left-handed persons; and to design an opener to cut close to the edge of a can and turn outward the cut edge of the tin, so that the contents of the can may be easily removed therefrom intact.

Minor objects will become apparent from the following description of a preferred em bodiment of my invention, reference being had to the accompanying drawing, in which- Fig. l is a front view.

Fig. 2 is a side view.

Fig. 3 is an inside view of the handle member, and Fig. 4 is an outline of the steel blank from which the cutting member is formed.

The numeral l indicates the blade member of hard or alloy steel, preferably self-hardening steel, having cutting edges 2 on each side of it terminating in a sharp point 3, and provided with beveled ears l, one on each side oppositely disposed at the base of the blade and bent over at right angles to the flat sides yof the blade.

ears 4 ofthe blank are then bent over sharply at right angles, and the cutting edges 2 beveled off by'grinding or otherwise, as shown in Figs. l and2. y

A metal handle member 6, preferably aluminum, is off-set as shown at 7, and provided 'with shoulders 3 at the root of the off-set.

The blade member l is permanently attached to the handle member 6 by spot-welding the tang 5 to said handle below the shoulders 8, as indicated at 9, Fig. l. lThis forms what may'rightly be termed an integral attachment, as the spot-welding unites the two metals. The ears 1i rest on the shoulders 8 with their beveled edges flush with the outer face of the off-set 7, and their' upper edges `projecting above the bottom of the groove l0 formed between the inside face of the blade l and the off-set 7. The extension 1l forward of the oH-set terminates somewhat beyond the blade point 3, and has its inner face parallel with the face of the blade, so that it may serve as a guide for the latter. The ears 4 resting on the shoulders 8 hug, or bear on the element? on both edges, thereby bracing the blade to resist the strain when cutting, while their upper edges remain sharp cornered and exposed.

In operation the implement is iirst applied approximately vertically, the guide l1 eing brought against the side of the can, and the point 3 of the blade bearing on the top thereof, whereupon pressure is exerted to force the point 3 and cutting edges 2 to pierce the can top. After the blade is inserted the handle 6 is swung downward thereby causing the sharp outer corner o' the edge of one ofthe ears a to bite into the upper edge of the can and serve as a fixed fulcrum for the leverage of the handle while the latter is tilted further, which causes the blade to rise and its upper edge 2 to cut through the metal of the can top, which cut may be continued if desired substantially throughout the length of the cutting edge. The opener is then advanced in the cut, and the operation repeated until the necessary opening is made in the can. The guide 1l and the fulcrum edge 4: force the blade to cut smoothly, close to and parallel with the edge of the can, turning the out edge outward, so that thev contents of the can may be removed with a minimum of injury and obstruction. y

The operation as above described is the same asthat of my former can-opener, to which reference has been made in the preliminary statement hereto, but the present device difers from the former in details of construction, the novelty of which is deiinitely set forth in the appended claims.

IV hat I claim as my invention, and desire to secure by Letters Patent is.

l. A can-opener lcomprising a cutting blade member provided with iulorum ears disposed at right angles thereto, and having a prolonged tang, said blade member being formed from a sheet metal blank; and a metal handle off-set to form a terminal guide, the blade tang being integrally attached to the inside :face of the handle member below the off-set, and the ears overlapping opposite edges of said handle.

2. A can-opener comprising a cutting blade member provided with fulcrum ears disposed at right angles thereto, and having a prolonged tang; and a metal handle member having a lateral offset providing a terminal guide projecting therefrom parallel with and oppositely disposed to the blade member, said blade tang being welded on the handle below the offset, and the ears overlapping the off-set edges of said handle.

3. In a can-opener, a handle member provided with an off-set forming a fla-t faced guide and having shoulders formed on the edges thereof, a cutting blade set against said handle and projecting parallel with the guide, alprolongation oi' said blade forming an anchoring tang, anda pair of fulcrum ears carried by said blade disposed one on each `side thereof at right angles thereto,

said anchoring tang being welded to the handle member, and said ears bearing on the shoulders or' the handlev member at the bottom of the groove between the cutting blade and the parallel guide.

' In testimony whereoi I affix my signature.

FREDERICK L, l IVHITGOMB. 

